A Natural Progression
by Stitchpunk
Summary: "The first time I kissed Ban-chan, the look on his face was priceless. The looks on everyone's faces! He was about to get his ass kicked, and he did look really cute at the moment, so I figured, why not?" A less serious look at Ban and Ginji's first kiss.


The first time I kissed Ban-chan, the look on his face was priceless. The looks on everyone's faces!

We were sitting in the Honky Tonk after a pretty easy job that would have been hard if the whole gang hadn't been in on it. Ban-chan was flat-eyed with his chin in his palm lazily leaning on the counter, trying as hard as he could to piss Shido off.

He was about to get his ass kicked, and he did look really cute at the moment, so I figured, why not?

"Ban-chan," I said to get his attention, not sounding any different than any other time I had something I wanted to say to him or ask a question.

"What?" he asked boredly, sliding only his eyes over to meet mine.

I reached up and plucked the cigarette from between his lips, much to his chagrin and it showed. But I ignored his outcried _hey!_ and turned his chin to me with my fingertips.

And I gave him a little peck.

"We made a lot of money today, huh!" I smiled sweetly, hoping that would cheer him up a little despite Shido's taunts.

Nothing. Just a look of complete shock. Well, maybe a little horror.

I got a little worried.

"Ban-chan? You okay?" I asked. I looked around to see if anyone else was worried.

All the same expression.

Suddenly Ban-chan grabbed me by the arm between my elbow and my wrist, giving me a bit of an Indian burn as he dragged me off my stool and up the stairs into the back.

Everyone else followed us with their faces and eyes, but looks on them didn't change one bit.

We got up to the untreated cedar hallway outside the door to Paul-san's apartment and suddenly I found myself slammed into the wood next to the doorway.

"What the hell, Ginji?" Ban-chan hissed so no one downstairs could hear.

"What, Ban-chan? Why's everyone acting so strangely?" I asked in utter confusion.

"Oh, gee, I dunno," Ban-chan said sarcastically, looking at the ceiling with his hand on his chin before glaring down at me. I was shorter than him thanks to having been pushed so hard I slipped a little and was too afraid to stand up any further.

"Well, I don't!..." I sniffled. Why was he making fun of me?

"You kissed me, you jackass! What was that all about?" Ban-chan yelled at me, either not caring or not remembering the others downstairs cold hear him.

"Why's that bad?" I pouted. "I felt like it!..."

"Boys. don't. kiss. boys. Ginji!" Ban-chan shouted at me. I cringed and shrank down against the wall a little, looking down to the side, feeling a bit ashamed of myself.

"Why not?" I whined. "I hug you all the time, right? It's the same thing..." I reasoned, my lips a little rounded so I sounded a bit younger without thinking about it.

"It's exactly the opposite of the same thing, moron!" Ban-chan yelled and conked me on the head.

"Well, but Kazuki and Juubei kiss..." I reminded him. "They're both boys..."

Ban-chan went deadpan. "That's debatable." And then got angry again. "But they're also romantically involved boys!" He bopped my head again. I held my spikes and cringed.

"Quit hitting!" I cried. "I already have lumps growing!"

"I'll hit you anytime I like! You're an idiot! Idiots get hit by non-idiots! It's the natural order!" Ban-chan argued.

So I did the only thing I could think of at that point. I shot myself into his arms and held him still, and kissed him again.

"We _are _romantically involved, Ban-chan," I reasoned. "So, then it's okay. You said so."

"Since when are we romantically involved?" Ban-chan exclaimed, but he wasn't pushing me away. I kept my hands on his shoulders and pouted at him.

"Because I really like you, Ban-chan. You're my best friend," I explained, not realizing how naive I sounded.

"It's not the same thing, moron!" Ban-chan snarled at me, but the bite was leaving his tone, and he didn't punch me again.

"It is to me..." I told him. I gave him another experimental peck and he puckered his lips and pressed back a little for once, his head falling forward a tiny bit after I pulled back before he realized I was gone and composed himself again. "See? It's the same to you, too," I sad petulantly.

"No, it's not..." he argued still. So I kissed him again to prove it. After all, he was understanding more and more each time. If I did it enough, he would soon see the light. I stayed a little longer this time and when I opened my mouth to take a breath, he took the opportunity to force his tongue into it.

"Mm-!" I grunted, surprised by his forwardness. At least he was finally getting it though his head. He shoved me back against the wall by the shoulders roughly, disconnecting our lips, but pushed himself into my chest immediately after, continuing the kiss. His hands moved to my jawline and I realized mine were just hanging by my sides, so I lifted them to the tops of his hips. I didn't mean to, but I squeezed a little and he breathed in sharply. He seemed to realize what he was doing and pulled away, hands falling to my chest to keep me put.

"This doesn't mean we're anything like Kazuki and Juubei," he laid out sternly. I bobbed my chin, totally serious-like.

"Right. Nothing the same," I agreed. I shrugged internally. If it meant that much to him, I guessed.

He rolled to the side, bringing me with him so our positions were switched, and pulled me forward, one hand on my arm and the other just below the back of my neck.

"Nothing like them," I confirmed again as he forced me to kiss him again, directing my hand to his waist and sliding his palm up my arm to my shoulder to hold me in place. I pressed my other hand into the wall near his shoulder to keep my balance as his legs were a little out from the wall, tangled in mine so he would be at the same level as me.

"Isn't that sweet..." a teasing voice came from the top of the stairs.

"Hevn-san!" I exclaimed. "Th-this isn't what it looks like! We're just partners! Ban-chan said so!" I told her, just to make sure she didn't get confused.

"Right, of course," she agreed easily and I breathed out in relief at her acceptance. "Nothing but partners."

"That's _right_," Ban-chan growled at her defiantly and pushed me away from him. He stood up straight and brushed himself off to straighten his clothes, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand after.

"_Kissing_ partners," she tittered smugly, raising her hand girlishly to her lips.

"Why-! I'll show you!" Ban-chan snarled and went at her with his 200 kg grip out to catch her. She ran down the stairs and he dashed down behind her. I followed at my regular pace behind him and entered the diner just in time to see Kazuki catch Ban-chan by the upper arm, stopping him in his tracks. He pulled Ban-chan close and cupped his hand against the side of his head, leaning in to whisper something in his ear.

Whatever it was, it turned Ban-chan's entire face bright red and he shoved Kazuki away like he was a giant spider. He marched stiffly back over to the counter and sat down on one of the red barstools, leaning over the hard surface with his head in his hands and his elbows propping him up.

"This is all your fault, Ginji," he groaned quietly, but I could still hear him over the din of the others discussing us.

"Don't worry, everyone!" I called out as I took the seat next to Ban-chan. "We're just partners. Nothing like Juubei and Kazuki at all," I assured them, catching onto the ridiculousness of Ban's insistence. A wave of laughter ran through the room and I grinned at Ban-chan, who was busy not noticing anything but his own misery as he rocked his head in his hands and tried to deny everyone's existence to himself.

"Aw, cheer up, Ban-kun," Natsumi cooed and patted him on the shoulder. He ignored her completely.

"Yeah, cheer up," I repeated for her and pushed him to sit up. He looked entirely depressed. That needed to be fixed. I couldn't let him just wallow in misery! He was my best friend! I hated to see him so down and blue!

So I smiled lightly, leaned forward while holding him up by the shoulder so he wouldn't fall backwards out of his seat seeing as he'd gone limp with resignation, and gave him another smooch.

He shoved me back angrily and glared.

"Stop doing that!" he snarled with a violent blush across his cheeks and nose.

"Lighten up, kiddo," Paul-san ordered as he set a freshly dry mug on the counter, Ban-chan's own personal one, and filled it with coffee. "Face it, it's your own fault."

"How is it _my_ fault?" Ban-chan sulked with a challenging sneer.

"Come on, how was he supposed to know all those hugs wouldn't turn into anything else? It's a natural progression," Henv-san chimed in.

"That's right, Ban-chan! How was _I_ supposed to know?" I agreed wholeheartedly. "It's a natural progression!"

"Shut up, eel-boy. You don't even know what natural progression is," Ban-chan dismissed into his coffee before taking a huge swig.

"Yuh-huh..." I said dejectedly. "It's when...something...does something...like...it happens in nature," I guessed.

"Like the birds and the bees!" Shido called out before collapsing into raucous laughter. Ban-chan grabbed a blank mug from the counter and launched it at the Beast Master's face, hitting him square in the nose thanks to his distraction. The man just burst out laughing even harder, dismissing the attack entirely in favour of mocking Ban-chan.

My partner collapsed in hollow embarrassment face-first onto the counter before dragging his arms up to fold over each other and surround his head so no one could see him.

That night, while we slept in the front seats of the car, Ban-chan in the driver's seat and me in the passenger's like always, he reached out his hand from under the blanket and held it out in the middle. I copied him and slid my fingers between his.

"Night, Ginji," he said quietly as if we did this every night.

"Night, Ban-chan," I replied.

When Paul-san woke up, he let us shiver into the shop before it opened to the customers so we could warm up a little, both of us damp from morning dew and shaking like usual in the dawning hours this time of year.

Instead of laying down on separate booth benches to catch a few more hours of sleep like usual though, Ban-chan pulled me into the corner and laid down on the extra large cushion there instead. I caught onto his intention and crawled on top of him, snuggling my head under his chin. He wrapped his arms securely around me to keep me in place and bent his leg up between mine to keep me from sliding over.

"This is a public area, you know," Paul-san admonished lightly.

"There're plenty of other places for you to look. Pay attention to one of them," Ban-chan said gruffly and tightened his hold on me. He didn't need to. I had no intention of moving.

"Partners, my ass," Paul-san muttered around his cigarette and went back to the kitchen.

I fell asleep to the feeling of Ban-chan breathing underneath me and woke up to find myself rising and lips pressing into mine.

"Wake up," Ban-chan ordered as he pushed me off, but he wasn't being his usual brash self. He got up, pulled four-hundred yen out of his pocket, and walked over to the bar to smack it down on the counter. "Breakfast," he said bluntly.

"Usual?" Paul-san asked.

"Yeah," Ban-chan nodded.

"Waaa, breakfast!" I rejoiced as I hopped into the seat next to Ban-chan's and spun around in it a little. I stopped myself on his barstool and leaned in, giving him a peck on the cheek.

"You know, you never hugged me this much," Ban-chan mentioned to me offhandedly as we waited for our eggs and toast and sausages and delicious hash browns all slathered in butter and, god, my mouth was watering just thinking about it. "Hey! I said something to you, eel-boy! Quit dreaming!" Ban-chan snapped at me and conked my on the crown.

"Owwww, Ban-chan," I whined, holding the painful spot. But I sobered up a little. "I just like it is all," I reasoned.

"Yeah, well, hold off in public a little," Ban-chan ordered. "Only preteen girls with their boyfriends do that kinda stuff in public."

"I've seen other people do it, too," I sulked. "And no one's even awake to see right now. Except Paul-san. And he's not public."

"I meant later on," Ban-chan sighed. "I can't believe I got saddled with such an idiot," he complained.

"Hey, Ban-chan! Words hurt, you know!" I cried to him in reminder.

"Only people who are smart enough to understand them," Ban-chan shot back. I knew he meant it as an insult.

"Aww, you called me smart," I cooed at him and gave him another kiss.

"I did not," he denied and wiped the feeling of my lips off his cheek.

"You gave me a compliment," I persisted. "You're sweet on me."

"Keep pushing me, Ginji," Ban-chan said warningly. "See where it goes."

So I got serious, not wanting to make him any madder, and slid off my stool to stand next to him. He looked up at me with suspicious doubt all over his face. I took him by the jaw with both hands and leaned in slowly.

"Okay, I will," I said lowly, needing to get the last word before I pushed myself against him and pressed our lips together, kissing him slowly and gently. He deepened it, but not by much, and turned his body to face me so he could hold me in place. His hand linked to his wrist loosely encircling my hips with his arms, with the back of his hand hanging against my tailbone.

Something snapped next to us from the other side of the counter and we startled apart, turning to look with our bodies still together.

"Here. For you," Paul-san said boredly, tucking a Polaroid camera back into the cupboard and then stepping the short distance over to us to hand Ban-chan the developing photo. I took it from him to stare at and watch the picture fade into sight, holding it so he could still see. One of his arms was still wrapped around me and I had my hand on his shoulder.

It developed to show the two of us in the middle of our display of affection. Ban-chan held it with me for a second to tip it towards himself before leaning forward and pressed a kiss to my chest just below my shoulder.

"Love you," he muttered, not seeming to care that it was the first time he'd ever said it to me.

"Love you," I said with just as much casualness. It didn't feel like any sort of milestone. It was just the thing to say at the time. It wasn't as if we hadn't felt it all along. We'd both known. We'd just never voiced it.

I kissed him on the spiky head and sat back down at the counter next to him as Paul-san walked over with our plates.

"Dig in," he said, and we wasted no time.

Two minutes later.

"Give it back, eel-boy!" Ban-chan screeched as I stole one of his toast triangles.

"No! It's only fair! You stole my sausage!" I shouted back at him and held it out of his reach so I could shove it in my mouth quick like a bunny.

"Fine, then! Your egg is mine now! _It's only fair!_" he mocked me.

"Then I get one of yours!" I shot back, the two identical foods ending up simply switching places.

Five minutes later, it was gone and my tummy felt sufficiently warm and stuffed. Paul-san always gave us more than he regularly served for his other customers, and I appreciated it fully.

"Thank you, Paul-san!" I called out. He waved me off as he prepared some pancake batter in the back room. "Can we go upstairs now?" I asked loudly enough for him to hear all the way back there.

"Don't use all my hot water. Leave five-hundred on the counter," he said. Ban-chan paid for the use of Paul-san's facilities and we grabbed our supplies quickly from the back of the Lady Bug before heading upstairs. "And remember the shower is for clean things _only!_" Paul-san called up to us.

"Shut up, Paul!" Ban-chan called straight back to him automatically. "We paid you five-hundred! We'll do what we want!"

We didn't do anything though. Everything went exactly the same as always, but with a few kisses interspersed throughout the process.

Nothing had changed between us. We had always been partners. It was simply a natural progression.


End file.
